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By Joseph Maliakan

In a welcome move , long overdue the News Broadcasting and Digital Standards Authority ( NBDSA )  has castigated three leading channels, the Times Now, Zee News and News 18 for airing blatantly communal shows.

Times Now and Zee News have been indicted for their coverage of protests by the now banned Muslim organisation the Popular Front of India and the increase in India’s population. Times Now had falsely claimed that ” Pakistan Zindabad ” slogans were raised at a demonstration held by the Popular Front in Pune, Maharashtra on 24 September 2022.

Times Now had in its defence said it had relied on reports by news agencies ANI and PTI  and freelance reporters for the show. However , the Broadcasting Authority was not convinced and pointed out that Times Now while airing the show had boasted that it was the first channel to report on the matter and ran tickers such as ” News Break Here First ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans at PFI stir ” and ” Pak slogans by PFI  workers “.

The Authority Headed by Justice ( Rtd )  A.K Sikri directed Times Now to remove the video of the broadcast and all hyperlinks to it.

The Broadcasting  Authority on another petition held Zee News guilty for targetting Muslim community  on 12 July 2022 , in a debate on increase in the population of the country and selectively broadcasting statistics giving the debate a communal colour. The show lacked objectivity as it focussed on  one religious group, the Muslims , being solely responsible for population growth , the Authority said. It directed the channel to publicize that it’s show violated the Code of Ethics and Broadcasting Standards.

The Broadcasting regulator warned Zee News not to air such reports in future.

The Boardcasting Authority also fined Hindi news channel News 18 for making objectionable statements on Muslims in four shows hosted by news anchor Aman Chopra. The topics of the shows ranged from glorifying public flogging of Muslims to giving totally false data to show phenomenal increase in the population of Muslims.

In the case of Times Now the Authority in its order noted that several fact checking websites had fact checked the the news report in question and had found the slogan raised  at the PFI demonstration  was not ‘ Pakistan Zindabad ‘  but ‘ PFI Zindabad’ !

In the first case of News 18 the Broadcasting Authority found that a debate hosted by Aman Chopra on 18 January 2022 had religious biases.” By starting the debate on the premise that 20 % of the people were ganging up against Hindus constituting 80% the anchor had given the debate a thrust , which is communal in nature and not appropriate, ” the order said.

The programme , NBDSA chairman Justice A.K. Sikri said, had violated the fundamental principles of impartiality, objectivity and neutrality that are necessary in reporting. In  the complaint, Anjuu Dubey submitted that Chopra deliberately made statements that maligned the Muslim community.

” The entire premise of the of the show revolved around creating a negative image of the Muslim community to instigate the members of the Hindu community to develop hatred for Muslims, ” he said. Throughout the show the anchor indulged in racial and religious stereotyping towards the Muslims .No caution of whatever nature or restrain was exercised by the anchor or the channel while airing the show in question it was pointed out.

Justice Sikri in his order of 27 February  also imposed a fine of Rs.50000 on the broadcaster and directed it to remove the videos of the show from its website and You Tube. The Authority further directed News 18 to state on its ticker once every hour between 8 am on 6 March and 8 am on 7 March , that they  had violated broadcasting guidelines.

The second case related to another debate also moderated by Aman Chopra on 4 October 2022 of the brutal public flogging of Muslim men in the Kheda district of Gujarat. On  of 3rd October night in Undhela village of Kheda a group of Muslim men allegedly threw stones at a garba site near a mosque. The following day five  Muslim men accused in the incident were dragged out in public , tied to an electric pole and beaten with sticks by the police as a crowd loudly cheered.

Indrajeet Ghorpade , the complainant in this case submitted before NBDSA that News 18 India celebrated the flogging of the Muslim men by the Gujarat police by describing it as ” police ki dandiya ” , a reference  to a traditional Gujarati dance in which sticks are used as a prop.the complaint further stated that News 18 had repeatedly showed the visuals glorifying and praising the illegal and inhuman police action of flogging.

The channel also wrongly declared the Muslim men tied and flogged by the police as guilty of stone throwing thecomplaint said. By connecting stone pelting with jjihad and by making negative generalised statements about young Muslim men and accusing them of engaging in various crimes the channel had tarnished the image of the Muslim community , the complaint added.

Though News 18 denied the charges Justice Sikri said in his order that the channel had “targetted  , vilified and castigated the entire Muslim community for the actions of a few miscreants”. Sikri also objected to the use of phrases such as ” garba me love jihad ” and ” what is your role in my girba ” , in the ticker.

The Authority also imposed a fine of Rs.25000, on the channel  in this case and directed it to avoid giving a ” communal colour ” while reporting such cases.It also directed the channel to remove the vedios of the show to be removed from the channel’s website and You Tube.

The third order was against a show hosted on 28 July 2022 by Aman Chopra on the murder of Baratiya Janata Party youth wingleader Praveen Nettaru in Bellare village of Dakshina Kannada district in Karnataka. The complaint said that between 19 to 28 July 2022 there were three ” communally motivated ” murders in Dakshina Kannada but Choprachose to highlight only Nettaru’s case . The two other victims were Muslims.

” The broadcaster had violated the Code of Ethics and Broadcasting Standards relating to neutrality impartiality and Clause 19 of the specific guidelines covering reportage pertaining to Racial and Religious Harmony “, Justice Sikri observed.

The fourth case is about a debate titled ” Ghazwa-e-Hind” aired on 5 August 2022. It was about reports by the police to the Home Ministry on the ” sharp rise in the Muslim population in Uttar Pradesh and in districts bordering Bangladesh and Nepal.

The programme used the hashtag ” Border Par PanIslam” and showed Muslims in busy neighbourhoods. ” In an effort to support the Citizen’s Amendment Act ( CAA ) and National Register of Citizens ( NRC ) rhetorical attempts were made to show Muslims in bad light and breedhatredtowardsthem” , the complaint said.

The Authority in its order said that the news channel did communalise the issue by giving the impression that the Muslims were intruders and were trying to change the demography of the country by supporting illegal infiltrators. It imposed a fine of Rs. 20000 on the broadcaster and directed Chopra not to make communal statements while covering issues of national importance.

Ends…..

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Six years after the November 2016 notification of the central government demonetising Rs.500 and Rs.1000 notes , a five judge Constitution Bench headed by Justice S. Abdul Nazeer of the Supreme Court of India by a majority of 4:1 on 2 January 2023 affirmed the government action . The Bench gave the order on a clutch of petitions challenging the 8 November 2016 notification.

But in a very strong indictment of the executive ( the central government )  in her dissenting order Justice B.V Nagarathna held that the objective of the Union Government may have been sound but the manner in which the set objectives were achieved and the procedure followed was not ” in accordance with law.”

Justice Nagarathna said that ” I am of the considered view that the impugned notification of 8 November 2016 is unlawful. In the circumstances , the action of demonetisation of all currency notes of Rs.500 and Rs.1’000 is vitiated.”

Justice Nagarathna stressed that she was not questioning the ‘ noble objectives’ of the exercise itself , but only giving the legal viewpoint and status quo ante cannot be restored now since the action occured in 2016. She noted that there was no independent application of mind by the Reserve Bank of India ( RBI ) and the entire exercise was carried out in 24 hours and pointed out that the power of the Central Government being vast has to be exercised through a plenary legislation rather than by an executive action by issuing a notification.

In this context Nagarathna said : ” It is necessary that Parliament which consists of representatives of the people of the country , discuss the matter and thereafter approves the matter. She further said ” Parliament is often referred to as a atn in miniature. It is the basis of democracy .Parliament which is the centre of democracy , cannot be left aloof in a matter of such critica importance.” One can only describe Justice Nagarathna’s comments as a sane voice in the wilderness.

The central arguement of Justice Nagarathna is that demonetisation arose from the central government and it should have enacted a law to demonetise the currency notes of Rs.500 and iaRs.1,000 instead of resoting to the gazette notification.

The provisions of the Reserve Bank of India Act.1934 do not bar the central government from proposing or initiating demonetisation.It could do so having regard to its plenary powers under entry 36 of List I of the Seventh Shedule of the Constitution of India. However , it has to be done only by an ordinance being issued by the President of India followed by an Act of Parliament or by plenary legislation through the Parliament.

The Central Government cannot demonetise bank notes by issuance of a gazette notification as if it is exercising power under sub-section (2) of Section 26 of the Act but notwithstanding the said provision through a legislative process.

When such power is exercised by the central government by means of a legislation , it is by   virtue of Entry 36 , List I of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India which deals with currency , coinage and legal tender , foreign exchange which is a field of legislation. Hence the power of the central government to demonetise any currency is notwithstanding anything contained in Section 26 of the Act.

The proposal for demonetisation arose from the central government and therefore could not be given effect to by way of issuance of a notification as contemplated under sub-section (2) of Section 26 of the Act, as such provision would not apply in cases where the proposal for demonetisation has originated from the central government .

The decision making process was also tainted with elements of ” non-exercise of discretion ” by central board of the bank in rendering it’s advice on the impunged measure.Therefore the inmpungned notification dated 8 November 2016 issued under section (2)  of Section 26 of the Act is unlawful. In the circumstances , the action of demonetisation of all currency notes of Rs.500 and Rs.1000 is vitiated Justice Nagarathna held.

Further , the subsequent Ordinance of 2016 and Act of 2017 incorporating the terms of the impunged notification are also unlawful. However , Justice Nagarathna said the at no point has any suggestion been made that the measure was motivated by anything but the best intentions and noble objects for the betterment of the nation. The measure has been regarded as unlawful only on a purely legalistic analysis of the relevant provisions of the Act and not on the objects of demonetisation.

Justice Nagarathna’s dissenting judgement  in fact is a warning against the destruction of the independence of important institutions created through Parliament legislation as a check on the unbridled use of executive power. In the instant case the the R B I board.

That the demonetisation caused incalculable hardships to the common man and resulted in the closure of lakhs and lakhs of small businesses has been well documented. Demonetisation also did not achieve any of the main objectives namely creation of a cashless economy, increased revenue for the government, eradicating black money, and ending terror financing.

It is unfortunate that the Supreme Court while giving a clean chit to the central government refused to even refer in passing to the hardships faced by the citizens due to the demonetisation which also led to unavoidable deaths of scores of people standing in unending ques outside banks. Human misery caused by unimaginative and hasty decisions could be justiceble under Article 21.

Ends…….

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Instead of providing timely relief and help them rehabilitate the state and police have been persecuting the victims , mainly Muslims , of the February 2020 communal violence in North East Delhi, a report by a Citizens Committee comprising eminent jurists and a former Home Secretary of the Union government has found.

The Committee was chaired by Madan B.Lokur, former judge of the Supreme Court  and comprised Justices A.P.Shah , R.S. Sodhi, Anjana Parikh and G.K.Pillai, former Home Secretary, Government of India.

Polarisation between communities ,particularly anti-Muslim hate was deliberately fueled in the months preceding the violence. The Muslim community was grappling with deep fears of loss of citizenship due to the Citizenship ( Amendment ) Act, 2019 passed by the Parliament in December 2019, and by mid December 2019 nationwide protests erupted against the law and Delhi emerged as the epicenter of the of the anti-CAA protests with North East Delhi as the site of several sit in protests.

Against this background , campaigning for the Delhi Assembly elections gathered momentum in January 2020.The Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP ) focused its election  campaign on anti-CAA protests framing it as anti-national and protesters were labelled traitors by BJP leaders.

While the violence  in North East Delhi first broke out as a clash between pro-CAA ad anti-CAA camps , it soon became a full blown communal violence between Hindus and Muslims because of the anti-Muslim hate build up during the election campaign. While mobs clashed and caused serious disruption of normal life in North East Delhi , Muslim homes, businesses and places of worship were specifically targeted from February 23rd to 26 , resulting in the death of 40 Muslims and 13 Hindus.

The response of the state and the police to the targetted violence against the Muslims in North East Delhi has undermined all democratic values,  the Committe found. The Delhi police failed to take any punitive action against hate speeches made by political leaders in the run up to the outbreak of violence on 23 February 2020 . In fact , the police assisting violent mobs and participating in attacks on Muslims, anti-CAA protest sites, and mosques have been documented in eyewitness and media accounts according to the report of the committee.

It is the Delhi polices case that the Delhi violence was the product of a grand conspiracy by certain groups and organisations of Muslims protesting against CAA in order to compel the Union Government to repeal the law. However, manufactured evidence deviously produced in various charge sheets contradict this narrative the citizens report has pointed out quoting various court orders.

In an incident on 24 February 2020 at about 4 p.m.five Muslim youths were brutally assaulted and publicly humiliated by police officers who taunted the young men saying  ye to azadi ( here is your freedom ) and forced them to sing the national anthem. One of these young men , 23 year old Faizan , was wrongfully confined in Jyoti Nagar police station till11p.m on 25 February 2020.He died at Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Narain hospital on 26 February 2020 after his release.

According to the post mortem report Faizan died due to cerebral injury along with multiple injuries all over his body caused by blunt force impact.The medical board of the JP hospital also opined that the injuries on Faizans head could have been caused by a hard and blunt object such as a lathi. The post mortem report makes it very clear that Faizan died on account of the injuries suffered during the assault or while he was illegally detained at the Jyotinagar police station for more than 24 hours.

Though an FIR charging murder was registered the Delhi Police have not yet arrested the assailants, in this case policemen. In response to a writ petition filed by Faizans mother seeking a time bound , court monitored investigation , the Delhi police filed a status report admitting that the vedio footage available in the media showed Faizan others being beaten by policemen. However, the police claimed that the videos were blurred and the assailants were wearing helmets and safety gears and therefore unable to identify their own men accused of murder!

Commenting on the shody investigation into the 2020 Delhi communal violence a magistrate  in the State v. Shah Alam said : I am not able to restrain myself from observing that when history will look back at the worst communal riots since partition in Delhi , it is the failure of the investigating agency to conduct proper investigation by using latest scientific methods , will surely torment the sentinels of democracy.The sort of investigation conducted in the instant case and the lack of supervision thereof by the superior officers clearly depicts that the investigating agency has merely tried to pull the wool over the Courts eyes and nothing else.

It is the Delhi polices case that the Delhi violence was the product of a grand conspiracy by certain groups and organisations of Muslims protesting against the CAA in order to compel the Union Government to repeal the law. However, manufactured evidence deviously produced in various chargesheets contradicts this false narrative.

A fact finding report published by the Delhi Minorities Commission ( DMC ) has stated that the Delhi police failed to prevent vandalism of Muslim places of worship . In the case of burning of Madina Masjid , the complainant Haji Hashmi Ali , the caretaker of the mosque , had to, approach the Metropolitan Magistrate as the police refused register an FIR regarding damage to the mosque.

In fact going through various cases against Muslims , the Delhi police would have us believe that the Muslims organised riots in Muslim dominated areas , killing mostly Muslims and destroyed mosques in protest against CAA which is discriminatory towards Muslims!

A review of the disclosure statements by people accused of committing various offences both under Indian Penal Code ( IPC ) as well as Unlawful Activities Prevention Act ( UAPA ) has revealed some degree of similarity. While some disclosure statements are identical from the beginning to the end , others have quite a few identical paragraphs . Obviously , the statements have been fabricated or the accused have been tutored.

For instance , Meeran Haiders disclosure statement recorded on 8 April 2020 and Safoora Zargars disclosure statement recorded on 14 April 2020 are word for word similar except for their names. Disclosure statements of Shadab Ahmed , Salim Malik, Athar Khan, recorded on 27 May, 28 June, 3 July respectively and Mohammad Salim Khan’s undated statement are also identical. Also Shadab Ahmed’s and Athar Khan’s statements recorded on 28 August 2020 are identical to Natasha Narwals and Devangana Kalitas statements recorded on 7 June 2020. Further , the same grammatical errors are made in a number of statements made by different people at different dates. These statements though cannot be relied on to convict a person they are gravely prejudicial and are enough to deny bail to the accused under UAPA and keep him or her incarcerated for long periods.

In fact,  investigations in recent conspiracy cases under UAPA has been plagued by the phenomenon of staggered arrests resulting in inordinate delay of the trial. It is only when the 180 days for filing the charge sheet for the initially arrested accused is ending that a second set of accused are arrested. A further 180 days time is then sought for filing the charge sheet. This is then followed by a third set of arrests further delaying trial and keeping the arrested in jail without bail for years. It looks as if the investigating agencies are using the stringent provisions of of the UAPA not to convict the arrested but keep inconvenient people in jail.

Ends

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Thirty-eight years after the Sikh genocide in India in 1984 following the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by two of her armed Sikh body guards the agony of the Sikh community around the world is continuing.

According to official figures in Delhi alone 2733 Sikhs were murdered in cold blood between 1 November and 4 November 1984.  Unofficial estimates say that more than 5000 Sikhs were murdered during the four days. During the period frenzied mobs spread terror indulging in mass murders, mass rape, arson ,looting , acid throwing and burning Sikhs with tyres around their necks.

Singer actor Diljit Dosanjh who plays a family man in the Netflex movie Jogi which is set during the massacre says that 84 Sikh massacre should be described as  genocide because it affected all of us. Directed by Ali Abbas Zafar the film explores the agony and sorrow of the Sikh community in Delhi during the genocide. They are still living with agony.

Contrary to claims made by the then ruling party leaders and even judges appointed to enquire into the massacre , eyewitess accounts prove that the killings, rapes, arson and lootings were planned and executed with military precision. Most of those killed were pulled out of their

homes, buses or trains , beaten up and burnt alive.

Many prominent Congress leaders of the time were involved in planning and executing the mass murders. Though commissions and committes which enquired into the conduct named many Congress leaders, very few have been prosecuted and convicted for the crimes they committed. Only one prominent Congress leader of the time,  Sajan Kumar was sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in the killing of the Sikhs. Even he was convicted only in 2018, more than 30 years after the massacre.

One of the most frieghtening feature of the massacre was the complicity of the police . The police participated in the massacre by engaging in the murders, inciting people to seek vengeance and provided murderous mobs with weapons , kerosee and petrol to burn the Sikh bodies.

The survivors , even after 38 years are yet to get justice. No policeman has been prosecuted , no cases have been registered for the hundreds of rapes that took place and in the 2733 murders officially admitted cases have been concluded only in the cases of 10 FIRs.

Only 587 firs were filed with regard to the unprecedented violent incidents during four fateful days , out of these the police closed 241 cases without any investigation whatsoever, for lakh of evidence.

In this context , the finding of the Nanawati Commission which was the last one to enquire into the massacre is very pertinent. The commission said: The attacks were made in systematic manner and without much fear of the police ; almost suggesting that they were assured that they would not be harmed while committing those acts and even thereafter. Male members of the Sikh community were taken out of their houses . They were beaten first and then burnt alive in a systematic manner. In some cases tyres were put around their necks and then they were set on fire by pouring kerosene or petrol over them. In some cases white inflamable powder was thrown on them which immediately caught fire.

This was a common pattern which was followed by the big mobs which had played havoc in certain areas.The Sikh shops were identified , looted and then burnt. Thus what was initially started as an angry outburst became an organised carnage.

The commission further pointed out : But for the backing of and help of influential and resourceful persons , killings of Sikhs so swiftly and in so large numbers could not have happened. Mobilising mobs and supplying them with weapons and inflamable material also required an organised effort.

However,so far neither the Congress party nor the governments led by it has owned any responsibility for the Sikh genocide. On the other hand , two weeks after the terrifying genocide and large scale looting and burning  of sikh properties in the capital on 19 November at a rally to observe Indira Gandhi’s birthday,  Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi said that when a big tree falls the earth shakes, justifying the carnage the magnitude of which the pilot turned Prime Minister failed to understand.

In 2005, Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh while intervening in a discussion in the Parliament, on the report of the Nanawati Commission , profusely apologized for killing of the Sikhs in the aftermath of the assassination  of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi . But he did not own the governments failure to protect the life and property at a time of grave crisis created by the assassination of the Prime Minister.

No cases were registered against any policeman for complicity or participation in the killings.The Kaapoor Mittal committee did investigate the role of the police in the 1984 genocide.The committee identified 72 officers who were negligent and recommended that 30 of them be dismissed. However, apart from setting up a few departmental enquiries the government took no action to punish the guilty police officers. This reporter  who reported the massacre from east Delhi , one of the worst affected areas was a witness in some of the enquiries, which were actually a sham because everyone was exonorated and some of them were even promoted and rewarded.

Commenting on the completely shody investigation by the police , Justice S.N.Dhingra in State v.Rana A Saroj , a trial that began 11 years after the genocide remarked : the police investigation in each of the riot cases filed in the courts has been wanting in quality. The manner in which the trial of the riot cases has proceeded is unthinkable in any civilised country.

In  fact, the inordinate delay in the trial of the rioters had legitimised violence and criminals through the instrumentalities of the state to stifle the investigation , cannot be relied upon to dispense justice uniformly to the people. It amounts to total wiping out the law. Investigations by the police were absolutely casual, perfunctory and faulty , Justice Dingra added.

In fact the Mittal report had said : The police had quitey collected and disposed off the bodies of those whom the mobs were unable to complete burn. During the killings mre than 30 sih wen were kidnapped from Trilokpuri and held captive at the Chilla vilage for days. There was no investigation conducted in the matter and no compensation was paid to the women.

As for relief and rehabilitation of the survivors of the genocide the less said the better. More than 600 widows who had lost everything was dumped in Tilak Vihar to fend for themselves on a princely pension of  Rs.500 a month. The single mothers found it impossible to bring up their children properly and many have become drug addicts ad are ueducated and jobless. They are destined to suffer till the end their lives.

The totally communal mindset of the police in Delhi has not changed a bit is proved from the fact that the police aided and abetted the anti muslim violence in the North East Delhi in February 2020 in which 40 Muslims and 13 Hindus were killed.

Ends…..

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After retirement, Professor Gayatri Vijayalakshmi from Harippadu, is stepping into the hearts of thousands through her dance. In spite of being a Professor in an Engineering college, she took dancing as a passion at the age of fifty-two. Now after her retirement,  she has become a  professional dancer. Gayatri Vijayalakshmi’s story will inspire anyone.

After her retirement, Professor Gayatri Vijayalakshmi  from Harippadu, Kerala has entered into the hearts of thousands through her dance. Professor Gayatri V Jayalakshmi, former Head of Department of TKM Engineering College, Kollam, assures that we must not think that people should not stay at home after retirement.

The  story of engineering professor Gayatri Vijayalakshmi, who took to dancing  at the age of fifty-two will inspire anyone. ‘One’s life can change  drastically even in their sixties. According toher ‘Age is just a number

She started studying dance at the age of nine during her schooling from Kollam.Eventhough her father used to take her and back for dance she was not allowed to take it as a profession. But she was allowed to participate in dance competitions.

Gayatri, was a good actress who used to  participate in drama, music,  dance etc in school. Chitra Mohan was her first dance teacher and later Radhamani and Lalita Bhadran were her teachers. Deepika also participated in the state level  for folk dance and semi-classical dance.

She started studying Bharatanatyam from 10th standard. Gayathri, who was good at studying, passed her undergraduate degree with 90% marks .During her college days, she moved to Kollam and joined engineering at TKM College, Kollam. She remembers that those were the days when she devoted her full attention and time only to dance and studies.

She studied Bharatanatyam and  Mohiniyattam  and has won several prizes in  Mohiniyattam and Bharatnatyam at district level. She also participated in university competitions during BTech and won prizes. She was  one among the five people who got state selection twice.

She moved to  Thiruvananthapuram after B.Tech  and continued her dance and MTech there at Thiruvanathapuram. After completing her  PG in 1986 from Thiruvananthapuram College of Engineering and Technology, she was appointed as teacher at TKM Engineering College.Her  daughter Unnimaya and son Yadukrishna were born during this period.

Gayathri has also worked as an announcer in Doordarshan and has even acted in a telefilm ‘Oru Mannangatta Katha’

In due course, her priorities changed and  she had to focus more on the future of her children and students. She moved to Kollam and for the next three decades she devoted her life for teaching  and for  her children and family.

She  loved teaching and was  able to create a very good rapport with her students and  also enjoyed raising her own kids. She is so proud that  TKM College of  got ten out of the first eleven ranks in engineering in 2015 when she was working as a senior advisor at  TKM.

It was her students who brought their teacher back her to dancing  after her retirement. Her  children came to know that she  was a good dancer  when the children of her  fellow students came to study at TKM. They insisted her to continue dancing  and  the she again started practicing dance  from 2015 onwards.

She herself composed dance for the song  ‘Shwetambara Dhare Devi’ and performed during her sent off party.  After seeing the video record of the same, she decided that she must pursue her dancing.

She is of the opinion that life must not be boring  after retirement, the teacher put on her chilanka again. She started  practicing Bharatanatyam which could open a new chapter in her life.

Gayatri Vijayalakshmi is proving that marriage, children and retirement are not obstacles for women to move forward in their life.  At the age of 57, Gayathri, who studied dance again under Maithili teacher, performed  one and a half hour Bharatnatyam concert at Vailoppilly Sanskriti Bhavan.

She performed in more than  50 programmes  and acted in 15 online programs and ten stage programs during the Corona period. She has also acted in a short film and also performed Bharatanatyam concerts at venues like Kerala Tourism Onam celebration, Edappally Changampuzha Park, Padmanabhaswamy Temple, Atukal Pongala, International Dance Fests etc..

Gayathri is very happy that her  daughter  Unnimaya and son Yadukrishnan, son-in-law Aneesh, daughter in law Devija and grand son  Niranjan are giving her full support in pursuing her passion for dancing

Gayathri, who is presently settled in Thiruvananthapuram, is enjoying her retirement life through pursuing her all-time passion for dancing. According to her Age is only  a Number.

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NEW DELHI: Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia presented a “Rozgar Budget” in the Assembly on Saturday with an outlay of Rs 75,800 crore for the financial year 2022-23, focussing on creating 20 lakh jobs in five years by setting up an electronic city and promoting night economy, retail and wholesale markets in the national capital.

The budget size for the next financial year is 9.86 per cent higher than that of the previous year — Rs 69,000 crore — Sisodia said, adding that Delhi’s economy is recovering gradually from the impact of COVID-19.

“The Rozgar Budget will take the economy of Delhi on the path of progress and generate lakhs of employment opportunities,” he asserted.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal lauded his deputy for presenting a budget that has “taken care of” every section of the society.

“Many congratulations to Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Manish Sisodia for presenting the ‘Rozgar Budget’ for Delhi. This budget will create employment on a large scale for youngsters. Every section of Delhi has been taken care of in this budget,” he said in a tweet in Hindi

In the 2022-23 budget, the heath sector has been allotted Rs 9,669 crore, while the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government has set aside Rs 16,278 crore for education.

Presenting the budget for the eighth consecutive year, Sisodia, who also holds the finance portfolio, said the city government will spend Rs 4,500 crore in the next five years to generate 20 lakh jobs and Rs 800 crore will be set aside in the 2022-23 budget for the purpose.

Under its “Rozgar Budget”, the Kejriwal government will organise shopping festivals to promote retail and wholesale markets in the city, seeking to make these places attractive for tourists and create jobs to boost the economy. An amount of Rs 250 crore has been allocated for this in the 2022-23 budget.

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As a second grade student it was startling and beyond belief for me when my bench mate told me that she had a prophecy or pro cognition power because the scenario that was occurring in our classroom at that particular time was already experienced by her in her dream the previous night and it was exactly indistinguishable.

But later on I have heard many people sharing such experiences and even I have gone through certain extraordinary situations when I meet a stranger and he looks incredibly familiar to me, went to a new place just to realise that it’s not new at all, feel that I have seen some visuals earlier when in reality these has never transpired before. Years later I realised that the thing which was stirring all of us was nothing but Deja vu and not a prophecy or pro cognition.

The term Déjà vu was coined by the French philosopher and researcher Émile Boirac in 1876. Déjà vu is a French phrase which means “already seen”.It is a false feeling of having already experienced the present situation or it is the illusion of remembering scenes and events when experienced for the first time. Déjà vu has significance since historical times.The earliest account of déjà vu was noted by Saint Augustine in 400 AD, who named it as “falsae memoriae”.

Including Hologram theory and Parallel universe theory there are around 40 theories that have tried to explain Déjà vu. There are many myths associated with Déjà vu which address the term as a message regarding the past life, message which has a supernatural origin and cognitive processing delay. According to studies two-third of the population has experienced Déjà vu at least once in their lifetime.

Scientifically Déjà vu is related to temporal lobe of the brain where our memories are stored. The neurological explanations of déjà vu are commonly split into “seizure” and “neural transmission delay.”There are two types of Deja vu the pathological déjà vu usually associated with epilepsy which is less common and the non-pathological type characteristic of healthy population.Peripatetic people (people who travel a lot) or people who watch a lot of movies are more likely to experience déjà vu than others.

People also tend to experience déjà vu more in fragile conditions or under high pressure, and research shows that déjà vu episodes decreases with age. Diseases like migraine with aura is associated with Deja vu.But 90% of people who experience déjà vu has found it to be a kind of motivation or a factor that ease their awkwardness after meeting a new locale. So deja vu is absolutely a sign of healthy brain unless it is associated with epilepsy which makes it a pathological anomaly.Thus this futuristic chaos consists of some optimism too.

But while déjà vu remains an eminent condition there is a less common, less discussed, underrated yet more complicated condition known as Jamais vu.It is a French phrase which translates “never seen.”In this disorder a familiar place or face or even a word turns out to be unfamiliar.Even though it can be seen in healthy brain, Jamais vu is mostly pathological unlike déjà vu.Jamais vu is often associated with certain types of aphasia, amnesia, fatigue conditions and epilepsy.

While deja vu is a positive subjective recognition,Jamais vu is a negative subjective recognition.It is obvious that a familiar face becoming unfamiliar all of a sudden has much more negative impact on a person’s life than an unfamiliar face seeming familiar.Studies have proven that certain medicine intoxication like baclofen can cause jamais vu.

But still jamais vu remains an unnoticed disorder since it is considered normal in most of the times neglecting the fact that it is a hidden cause of amnesia , aphasia and temporal lobe epilepsy which can be due to lesions caused by meningiomas, gangliogliomas, dysplastic neuroepithelial tumors, and gliomas.Thus it deserves a bit more attention since it affects the most vital attribute of human,his memory.

This leads to a famous quote by American British novelist Mark Lawrence about memory. “Memory is all we are. Moments and feelings, captured in amber, strung on filaments of reason. Take a man’s memories and you take all of him. Chip away a memory at a time and you destroy him as surely as if you hammered nail after nail through his skull.”

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This means social media giant believes India is potentially as bad as Myanmar and Sri Lanka where Facebook has been used to ignite and sustain inter-religious violence.

According to a report by Wall Street Journal, this year the social-media company’s safety team deemed Bajrang Dal supported violence against minorities across India and likely qualified as a “dangerous organisation” that should be banned from the platform.

However Facebook hasn’t taken any action to remove the groups from Facebook because internal security audit teams at the company believe that this may anger these groups and they may target business, offices and Facebook staff in India.

The WSJ report believes that such conflicting concerns underscore the struggle Facebook faces in curbing hate speech that spread like a wild fire through the platform. Facebook has recently invested $5.7 billion in a new retail venture in India which makes the issue more difficult because a lot of groups and people indulging in it are close to the ruling party BJP.

The social- media company fears strict actions against such hate-mongering group will impact their business. However, the WSJ was told by a Facebook spokesperson that the company’s policy on hate speech is not influenced by political or business reasons. Facebook spokesperson Andy Stone told the WSJ, “We enforce our Dangerous Individuals and Organizations policy globally without regard to a political position or party affiliation.”

This is not the first time Facebook is dragging its feet on tackling hate speech in a country. The company has come under fire for not acting against hate speech in nations like Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines. Two years ago investigators from United Nations cited Facebook for facilitating hate speech in Myanmar, helping fuel the sectarian violence against Rohingyas.

Several months ago, Facebook was in spotlight in India for all the wrong reasons as it was reported that its then India Policy Ankhi Das stopped staffers from taking action against hate speech by BJP politicians. Facebook refuted the report, but in late October Ankhi Das left the company saying she wanted to “pursue public service interests”.

Facebook’s India MD Ajit Mohan has been called for a hearing by a Delhi government committee that is looking into the use of social media during riots earlier in the year. However, Mohan has refused to appear before the committee and has challenged the Delhi government directives in the Supreme Court.

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Malayalis are celebrating the recent announcement of Lijo Jose Pellissery’s ‘Jallikettu’ being the official Indian entry for the 93rd Academy Award 2021. Now that is a moment of happiness, but the journey forward will be an amalgamation of an aggressive PR, lots of money to splurge and business meetings in Hollywood. That is the reality and that is the way of Oscar for many years.

This is not the image Oscar want to project. The king of award shows, a glittery, glamourous evening of celebrating an art form- they are supposed to be recognising the best movie, the best performances, the best cinematography, the best costume design. However the ultimate winner is the “best Oscar campaign”.

In 2016, National Award winning filmmaker Vetri Maaran’s Tamil film ‘Visaranai’ was India’s official entry to the 89th Academy Awards. Although the film didn’t make it to the shortlist, Vetri Maaran made an honest attempt at campaigning for his film in Los Angeles.

In an interview, the director elaborated about the long tiring process of ‘wining and dining’ in Hollywood and what it takes to get their movie watched by Academy voters. Vetrimaran said that if you want to get noticed, be prepared to splurge. The Oscar campaign cost his producer and frequent collaborator Dhanush, more than the film itself.

Watch Vetrimaran’s interview here talking about his Oscar experience.

The first thing the team of ‘Visaranai’ did was getting a PR who specialised in foreign language Oscar films. The PR should be from the big names that have a good winning track record. This is essential for the campaign.

The wine and dine is very important, an integral part of Los Angeles. Everything costs. A $15,000 for the promotions till shortlist, if it’s shortlisted another $5000, if it’s nominated another $5000. That is a lot of money.

According to Vetrimaran, putting ads on major magazines like Variety and The Hollywood Reporter had cost almost $32,000 each. “People started looking at the ads and thought, ‘Okay, these are guys with some money from India. Let’s give it some credibility. Let’s listen to what they have to say,” he said.

The process won’t end there. Vetrimaran said that the biggest lesson he learnt is that Academy voters prefer lighter, emotionally moving films which they can relate to. They may not be able to handle the harshness of the film even if the subject and plot of the movie is relevant.

The Oscar Campaign trail

It is not a hidden fact that Hollywood studios spend millions in their Oscar campaign trail.
Hollywood studios and production companies have hired strategists and consultants to run Oscar campaigns, spending millions of dollars to catch the attention of the right voters who could help push their films to victory.

In 2016, Variety estimated that studios spend around $3 million to $10 million to lobby Oscar voters. According to a 2017 New York story about modern Oscar campaigns, that figure can climb as high as $15 million. Consultants on the campaigns can charge tens of thousands of dollars for their services, with more in bonuses if their film wins.

In her Vox article,’How to Win an Oscar’, Alissa Wilkinson mentions about a prominent factor called ‘electability’. Studios pick their candidates based on “electability”and pour money into them, targeting Oscar voters.

Electability is based on a number of factors from whether the movie’s subject matter is likely to appeal to the Academy to the stars’ charisma both onscreen and off. But its most important element- and what every piece of an Oscar campaign is devoted to constructing- is the narrative of Oscar-worthiness around the film.

Although there were certain anomalies like Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight ( was nominated for 10 oscars and won two, yet couldn’t make through the Best Picture), majority of films had to go through million dollar campaign trail to grab that golden statuette.

Hence, with no doubt, Lijo Jose Pellissery and his movie Jallikettu have to be a part of this costly campaign trail if the director wants to get noticed by the Academy. Is he ready for the costly affair, one has to wait and see.

There should also be a realisation that winning an Oscar is not an ultimate recognition for a great movie.

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As the legendary scotch whiskey brand completes 200 years, Julie Bramham, the Global Brand Director of Jhonnie Walker recalls that John’s leap of faith led to Jhonnie Walker to become the world’s favourite whisky.

There is a small team of 12 expert blenders in every country that relentlessly work to create the perfect blend. There are hundreds of experiments taking place exploring a wide range of innovative flavours and influences, distillation conditions, cask finishes, and the different types of oak wood and grain used.

It was in the early July, the team of Jhonnie Walker announced the world’s first ever 100% plastic free paper-based spirits bottle- made entirely from sustainably sourced wood that will debut in early 2021. Innotavion is the backbone of the brand’s identity.

Interestingly, this iconic brand had witnessed some of the painful and deadly episodes of the history and also some greatest transformations.

From its early years the business persevered through the great flood of Kilmarnock in 1852; the early death of two generations of its business leaders; exceptional volatility in its first export markets; the First World War, Spanish Flu, Prohibition, and the Great Depression (all within fifteen years); the Second World War and the long and painful road to economic recovery that followed; the Oil Crisis and the global and national recessions that trailed in its wake; and the Great recession of 2007-2009. Jhonnie Walker seen it all.

All these hurdles made the brand stronger and resilient. According to Julie Bramham, their 200 year strategy can be put in a nutshell- a commitment to quality, innovation and the consistent value of progress.

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This year, November 1 marks 64th Kerala Piravi which is celebrated as the birth of Kerala state in India. The state of Kerala was created after the merger of Travancore, Malabar and Cochin leading the creation of modern Kerala, a paradise on earth.

Kerala, the gift of Arabian Sea is not just celebrating the anniversary of its genesis. It is a great year of being the cleanest state of India, the only state to have hospitals in every village, the state which receives the first spell of rains, home of Ayurveda, highest literacy rate, highest female ,male ratio, least female and infant mortality rate, most secular state, state to celebrate highest number of festivals, home to a vast variety of herbs, teak trees, spices etc, second least corrupt state and the list never ends.

It has never failed to attract and enchant anyone by its sheer charm and elegance since historical times.

Even though every spot and site in Kerala has a vital role in making it an eye catcher, the center of attraction of the state lies in its Malabar region. Until the arrival of British, the whole Kerala was known as Malabar.

Chirrakal Taluka in Malabar was the main source of pepper also known as Black Gold of Malabar which robustly attracted the Dutch, English and Portuguese. Hortus Malabaricus (meaning “Garden of Malabar”) conceived by Hendrik van Rheede, who was the Governor of Dutch Malabar at that time, is a comprehensive treatise that deals with the medicinal properties of the flora of Malabar.

The book was written in Latin which was later translated into English and Malayalam. The attraction that stuck the foot of Portuguese in the fertile Malabari soil from 1500 to 1663 has been described in the book “Portuguese in Malabar” by Charles Dias and the British conquered Malabar from Tipu Sultan in 1792.

The Malabar coast had brawny trade ties with the Arab world. Traders were dependent on favourable winds to travel across the Arabian Sea and thus they had to stay on this shore for long stretches of time which lead to the commencement of their relations with the local people.

According to William Logan, the word Malabar came from the Malayalam word Mala (hill) and the Persian/Arabic word Barr which meant a continent. Dr. Hermann Gundert, German scholar and linguist who compiled the first Malayalam-English dictionary spent a major part of his life in Thalassery and during this period he made remarkable contributions to malayalam journalism and literature.

Malabar had also been invaded by many of the ancient South Indian rulers like Perumals,Utyavars and many more.

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World Occupational Therapy Day is observed on October 27 every year, aiming to promote the mission and goals of occupational therapy and thereby heightens the visibility of the profession. An occupational therapy practitioner will help people in promoting health and well-being and thus improves one’s quality of life.

Occupational Therapy is a client-centered health profession, which enables people of all age group to live life to the fullest by enhancing their ability to do activities they want to, need to and expected to do or by modifying the environment or occupation. Occupational therapy practitioners (OT) help the client to gain or regain the skills that are needed to complete their everyday tasks at home, school, workplace or community. The holistic perspective of occupational therapy considers a person as a whole by understanding every aspect of their life.

Occupational therapist works with all age groups from the paediatric to the geriatric population. Common specialties in occupational therapy include gerontology, where practitioners work with frail older adults with various diagnosis such as Dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Stroke and so on, and aim to provide interventions with a focus on environment modification, use of adaptive equipment or assistive technology to facilitate independence in performing daily activities, reduce risk of fall and ultimately improve quality of life.

In paediatrics, practitioners help children to explore and facilitate engagement in age-appropriate activities that can enhance various (cognitive, social, self-help skills, emotional and behavioural regulations, pre-writing skills, pre-school preparation) skills of a child and thus ensures maximum performance of child within his/her potential. Occupational therapy practitioners have a major role in psychiatry, where the therapists aim to facilitate maximum independence in the performance of self-care and also provide vocational training to the clients.

Other areas of specialities are orthopaedics and neuro-rehabilitation, where clients with various diagnosis such as fractures, hip replacement, arthritis, stroke, traumatic brain injury, motor neuron disease and others are referred to an occupational therapist for rehabilitation services and focuses on achieving maximum independence in the way that’s best suits the client within his skills and capabilities. Environmental modifications at home, workplace, or school are carried out by occupational therapists to support in living, working or studying.

Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, as an Occupational therapist, I would suggest all explore various activities, discover your hidden talents and make the best use of it. This pandemic is not the time to be idle rather be an explorer within yourself and it’s a great opportunity to take care of yourself and your well-being. Occupational therapists along with other health care professionals are trying their best to provide quality care to clients by following safety protocols and all the health professionals care for your well-being and quality of life.

Always feel free to seek the help of health professionals when needed. Telehealth is the ideal solution during these uncertain times and I would like to highlight the acceptance of telehealth by all the service users.

Sangeetha A Varghese is an Occupational Therapist at Prayatna Centre For Child Development

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In its resolve to clean the proverbial Augean Stable , the Supreme Court appointed Sri Alok Saxena , a 1989 batch I PoS officer from UP cadre as the Chief Vigilance Officer of MCI . Since his appointment as CVO Mr. Saxena keenly investigated all the cases relating to corruption within MCI and recommended action in over 30 files that were pending enquiry for the past more than 5 years .

Among various actions taken by Saxena , he has recommended CBI probe against some officials of the MCI who had conspired to procure registration for some quack doctors who were possessing fake medical degrees . A cartel itself was operation within MCI which was securing permanant registration to people with fake medical degrees from abroad .
These officials had committed extensive irregularities within the system like forging of records to interpolate the names of unqualified fraudsters in the Register of Medical Practitioners . For the purpose even the FMGE results were doctored by these people. Obviously none of it came cheap and for securing permanant registration amounts ranging from 25 lakhs to over 1 Crore was demanded.

Saxena has put his axe also upon the all too powerful lobby that is involved in clandestinely getting recognition to Medical Colleges and increasing medical seats in institutions on payment of huge amounts. Eight cases are already registered by CBI against MCI officials in offences involving corruption, forgery and fraud.

Mr. Saxena has placed a 300 page report before the Supreme Court containing recommendations of stern action against erring officials and those quack doctors who have been practising Modern Medicine with fake Degrees, cheating the whole system and poor patients under the cover of fraudulently obtained Medical Council Registration including freezing of their accounts and confiscation of their and family members’ assets. It is said that the agencies are already told to trace and freeze the assets of the involved people . Among the quack doctors who are proceeded against, one each is from Odisha and West Bengal and another is from Kerala, sources in Delhi said .

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Professionalism and media ethics have taken a backseat and aggressive journalism became the primary focus. And we are witnessing the grave outcome of this mayhem with the current cases of TRP fraud.

Back in simpler times, aka, the Doordarshan era, an ambitious arts and cultural television show called Surabhi (The fragrance) set out to discover what diversity actually looked, sounded and felt like. Surabhi was launched as a weekly cultural show at a time when the word ‘viral’ stood just for a nasty fever.

The purpose of the show was to give the Indian audience a flavour of every part of the country they belong to. The result was a superhit show with an astounding run of 11 years and more than 400 episodes. Airing from 1990 to 2001, the show was the visual version of arts and culture magazine. An idea that is way ahead of its time.

Cutting across class, caste and religion, this one of a kind programme, with anchors Siddharth Kak and Renuka Shahne, travelled the length and breadth of the country , exploring everything from music, craft, dance and sculpture to cinema, history, ecology, food and more.

The show successfully aroused the curiosity of its viewers for over a decade and provided an intimate exploration of the country we are conditioned to be proud, but partly familiar with. As one of the hosts said, ‘it gave them reason to be proud of India.”

The fragrance (surabhi) and trajectory of this ‘rainbow’ program across the spectrum enriched our sense of identity and heritage.

It was one of the longest running show of that era on Indian television, one that received both critical as well as commercial acclaim. It might sound ironic to the current times, but there was no marketing strategy behind or viewership targets driving this . And yet the show fetched millions of postcards from the audience on a weekly basis.

According to the Limca Book of Records, the show once received the highest ever documented response in the history of Indian television – over 1.4 million letters in a single week. The Indian postal department was forced to issue a different category of postcards called “Competition Postcards” priced at 2 Rupees each for participating in such contests.

The show even managed to have Amul as its title sponsor. A partnership that lasted for more than ten years and not once did the marketer ask for viewership figures, regional breakup or so on. Those were definitely simpler times, yes. The success of Surabhi is a case study. A study of how hard work and pure intent to serve good content to the audience are enough and everything else fall into place.

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Bollywood stars come and go, but Rekha remains an enigmatic diva till this day. She is 66, today, still  living as the mysterious diva who many have tried to decode.

Rekha entered the movie industry as a 14-year-old child, and braved it for 40 tough years. Especially during the last few years of her career as an actress, she was virtually playing the role of a hero of her films like ‘Khoon Bhari Maang’, and other hits in the 1990s.

Bhanurekha Ganesan, better known by her stage name Rekha, was born in Chennai, as a lovechild to the famous Tamil actor, Gemini Ganesan and Telugu actress Pushpavalli. She started off with small roles in Kannada and Tamil films.

Rekha’s first Hindi film was ‘Anjana Safar’ with Biswajeet in 1969, directed by Raja Nawathe and produced by Kuljeet Pal. A kiss between Biswajeet and Rekha, filmed without her knowledge, in fact, Biswajeet was forcing himself on the teenage actress, earned her adjectives that is double edged in an industry that is known for its double standards: ‘bold and beautiful’.

Ironically, the ravishing beauty, as we know her today, wasn’t recognised as one in her early years. Shashi Kapoor called her “dark, plump” and wondered, if she ever going to make it. Yet, Rekha went on to become the top female star of Bollywood winning a national award.

Rekha entered Hindi films when actress like Sharmila Tagore, Asha Parekh and Mumtaz were the queens of Bollywood. But there is something special and natural about her. The svelte and oomph-oozing actress with neatly plucked eyebrows, the well-coordinated costumes, the perfectly modulated smoky voice, saw her success in 1976. Her performances in ‘Muqaddar Ka Sikandar’, ‘Ghar’, ( the latter is her personal favourite and she described it as her major breakthrough in “serious acting”) ‘Umrao Jaan’ ,’Ijaazat’, proved her mettle.

The diva never hesitated to play a controversial role in the film ‘Kamasutra’ and has played a negative role in ‘Khiladiyon ka Khiladi’. She has acted in more than 180 films during her career.

As her popularity grew, her colourful private life bolossomed, and of all the linkups, her alleged affair with Amithabh Bachchan remains the best known. Rekha’s onscreen chemistry with the angry young man, who dominated the latter half of the 70’s, resulted in several well-known films including ‘Mr. Natwarlal’ (1979) and ‘Silsila’ (1981).

Rekha’s sensational entry into the wedding of Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh with sindoor in her hair and her statements about how he felt about Mr. Bachchan heated the rumours about her and him. There is also the jaw-dropping casting of Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan and Rekha in a love triangle in Yash Chopra’s ‘Silsila’, which appeared to reflect their collective off-screen status. Muzaffar Ali, who gave Rekha one of her dignified roles through ‘Umrao Jaan’, has once bluntly said that Bachchan should have married Rekha. She was a star, but love and relationship were never in her favour.

Even though she has been a popular figure, she has faced quite a lot of challenges in her life. There have been times when even Bollywood turned against her, especially after the suicide of her husband Mukesh Aggarwal post their much-publicised failed marriage. The irony? The tragedy had nothing to do with Bollywood and yet Rekha was criticised. And suddenly the actor who gave sensational cover stories and uninhibited interviews throughout 1970s and 1980s, closed her doors to everyone. It changed her forever.

Much like Amitabh, Rekha is the only star of her generation who is timeless and aged gracefully. Her evergreen beauty, her fashion, those jaw dropping sarees and being in a league of her own command lot of reverence.

Rekha is an eternal fighter and finally emerged a winner. There is hardly any interview in the last three decades during which she seems to express her feelings without restraint. She appears in the public at time, but always kept the mysterious aura around her.  She is the reclusive diva of Bollywood now.

And all we could do is sing, “Aapki aankhoein mein kuch mehke hue se raaz hai….”

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Observing the Mental Health Day on October 10 has greater relevance during these pandemic days than ever before. People across the globe are facing the impact of COVID-19 in many ways and have harnessed the mental health to a greater extent than before. The theme for this year ‘Mental health for all –Greater Investment, Greater Access’ conveys the urgent need and necessity of reahing out to everyone. The pandemic itself has added on to the challenges we were already facing. We all need to learn and follow new routines, not because it is a need, but a necessity for our own existence.

For everyone, mental health is just absence of mental health problems. Mental and emotional health has much more to convey. It is not being free from anxiety and depression. We all have bad times, when we go through loss, disappointments and adversities. It is the presence of strong coping skills that help us to bounce back from adversity, trauma and stress, which we rarely note or appreciate in ourselves. This ability is called resilience and it is the tool kit for coping and maintaining a positive outlook. This helps people to remain productive in good and bad times by being more flexible and focused.

Knowingly or unknowingly we all take effort to improve the situation. There are practices which you can adopt to improve resilience. It requires hard work as we have to invest for keeping ourselves physically fit. These practices help in building a sense of contentment, flexibility to learn new skills to adapt, to bounce back from adversities, self-confidence, self-esteem, the ability to maintain fulfilling relationships, to balance responsibilities, work, and leisure, and provide meaning  life and the zest for living.

Dr. Daniels, President of WFMH says, “Now, more than ever, greater investment in mental health is needed to ensure that everyone, everywhere has access to mental health care.

When we practice being grateful, maintaining positive relationships, and having faith and hope, it helps to look forward for a flourishing future. Cognitive therapy, mindfulness meditation, expressive writing and other psychotherapies done with professional assistance will be beneficial for people to enhance their well-being through learning to be more realistic and break the feedback loop and distorted thinking and find an alternative and more accurate way of thinking.

But at certain times, we bottle up our problems, we ignore the emotional messages, we distract ourselves or else simply give up. The first and foremost help to give people is to educate them about these psychological impacts. It has to be made clear that it is normal for anyone to have this emotional turmoil when we undergo stress. Self-help interventions have also helped to cope with these bad times. Don’t forget to appreciate ourselves for making a change in the well-being of oneself as well as others.

We are all in constant learning and trying to enhance our mental health as we all fall in a continuum of well-being. We have to do constant self-assessment, evaluations and feedbacks from others about how we feel, how we are meeting everyday functions, responsibilities, do we feel stressed, do we need assistance and so on. There are many applications which claim to be helpful to keep the routine, to monitor oneself, self-managementand so on but not every app serves the need.

We have to look for the approved ones as well as from professionals in mental health and they will guide you regarding the apt one for you and to know whether this is going to do the help or do more harm. Though it is a smart way to help people stay connected outside the therapy sessions, it never can be used as an alternative for the professionals in mental health.

Now a day’s several clinics are providing such services as part of regular health care. The online services are providing a great support in therapy services by reaching out and reducing the barriers of travelling long distances and accessibility to trained clinicians. Studies based on tele-health are showing remarkable progress in many areas including mental health and behaviour management.

There are interactive sessions with all family members, to have a better monitoring of how the child is behaving at home and even interactive sessions using an educational software or app that supports teaching. With the number of studies on interventions based on e-therapy, there is now considerable support for the use of online therapy for delivering evidence-based therapeutic services. There are situations where we can’t recommend this but only close and direct monitoring helps.

There are times when people feel all the symptoms so intensely and frequently, constant and overwhelming, out of proportion affecting their daily functions and when these self-help strategies are not working, it is advisable to seek professional help. The self-check of the emotions you are undergoing can help to take a decision.

The pandemic we face now is going to be the world’s biggest psychological research along with the medical condition itself. We all are aware and “sometimes” accepting the stress related to the illness as well as the quarantine, social isolation and the new lifestyle. This stress will naturally lead to a secondary epidemic of burnouts, stress related absenteeism, dependency on substance abuse and suicides in the following months, experts say in the field of health, economy and population. There is going to be an unexpected increase in mental health concerns, UN says.

Psychologists and social workers have to work hand in hand with medical professionals to help people overcome the aftermath of the crisis response– those who have been wounded with the medical condition itself, the ones who are at risk, the quarantined, the isolated, the stress and burnouts of health care professionals and the whole bunch of people who worked for preventing the disease spread, the loss of loved ones, being away from family, job loss and lack of employment opportunities,business loss, the migrant workers, the ones who had less access to hospitals even during an emergency, the people who had to adopt new work styles. The invisible wounds of the community, going through the days of trauma goes neglected.

We have to set up those helping hands to overcome the trauma and to help each other overcome the global breakdown. Have a keen look at the emotional well-being of your loved ones too. Being genuinely grateful for health care professionals and the ones who work day and night for preventive measures and for each and every benefits we have will have beneficiary effects. Trying to focus only on things we can control and sharing our worries with our loved ones helps.

Let everyone of us look forward to a better flourishing life and not going back to normal life.

Ms. Minna Mathew is a clinical psychologist and behavior analyst . She works at Prayatna Center for Child Development, Kochi. She completed MA, MPhil in Clinical Psychology .

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It was a Friday midnight when the nurse peeped out of the labour room announcing the birth of a girl child and to congratulate her family. Tears of happiness rolled down the cheeks of her father remembering the last eight years of hardship which he and his wife spent visiting several obstetricians just to fulfill their most salient dream of rocking a cradle for their own baby.

On this fortunate day when his prayer came true he should not fail to express a soulful gratitude to another illustrious day -25th July 1978. This was not an ordinary day.

On this extraordinary day Lesly Brown and John Brown, a sterile couple was blessed with a baby girl in Oldham district general hospital, England They named her Louis Brown. She was the very first test tube baby.

Dr Robert Edward along with the help of Dr.Steptoe, a renowned gynecologist offered this couple IVF (In vitro fertilization) treatment which not just fulfilled their dreams of holding their own baby but also provided a ray of hope to all the childless couples thereafter.

After this day, infertility was no longer a barrier for having a child. Even though this work had to face many critics, Dr.Robert Edwards won the Nobel Prize in the year 2010. Medical science witnesses new inventions and contrivances every day. Labor room walls hear millions of neonate cries but this legendary deed of Dr.Robert Edwards should never be forgotten which gave birth to many unobtainable newborn cries and maternal smiles.

Another flawless prayer that the hospital walls heard was from the parents of a coronary artery disease patient whose heart was ultimately proceeding to heart failure. On the other side of the Intensive Critical Care unit was a 20 year old who was declared brain dead due to severe herpes simplex encephalitis. The beating heart of this 20 year old arrived for the rescue. His parents eternally thanked the donor and the doctors who made the transplantation procedure successful.

Here again there is a historical day that they should never forget- December 3 1967. This day actually changed many lives or infact gifted many lives to the universe. The beating heart of Denise Darwal, a young woman who was found brain dead after a car accident in Cape Town was transplanted to Lewis Washkansky, a grocer who was suffering from incurable heart disease. The world’s first successful human to human heart transplantation surgery which lasted for nine long hours. Denise’s heart started functioning in Washkansky’s body accurately.

This riskiest surgery was done by the surgical genius Dr.Christiaan Barnard who went on to carry out many other heart transplants thereafter. He was loved and admired by his patients, many of whom he treated for free of charge. In this case it’s not only Dr.Barnard who deserves to be thanked but also Denise Darwall’s father who bravely gave the permission to transplant his daughter’s living heart.

These are apparently the two magical days that came out of a magic pot and threw some light on the human life. With their determination, conviction and faith, Dr.Christian Barnard and Dr.Rovert Edward, filled those voids which would have otherwise remained empty. They are the real magicians because the former got a dead person alive and the latter brought a new life into existence which are the definite examples of divine intervention.

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2020 has apparently become a year to demonstrate “Darwinism” or one of the most vital Darwinian theory “The survival of the fittest”,phrased by Herbert Spencer as an alternative to the term “Natural Selection” whether it be in micro(virus) or in macro(human beings).

As a result of the gene sequencing study in Kerala conducted by the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology under Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research with the help of the patients admitted in Kozhikode Medical College, among the sub types of Sars Cov-2 the A2a clad was picked out as the fittest which was the subtype that devastatingly invaded Europe and America.

A specific mutation in its spike gene made it most powerful. This mutation transpired at the 614th amino acid position of the spike protein in which one type of amino acid (aspartic acid – D614) is converted into another one (glycine – G614) and hence the name D614G. D614G, by causing this amino acid alteration, permits the spikes on the surface of the virus to conceive the best possible grip on an enzyme found on the surface of lung cells.

This brings Darwinism in COVID 19 into limelight because exactly like in Darwinian hypothesis this group being terrifically infectious than any other group, could spread proficiently producing more and more copies or replicas.

Although in Darwainian terms fittest meant survival of the form which will leave most copies of itself in successive generations, when it comes to human beings in this era of pandemic, Darwinism has been manifested in another dimension in which fittest is the one who can survive through all the rugged and resilient scrutiny that is transpiring one by one caused by a tiny 60nm organism.

So let us adulterate this Darwinism with optimism, try to become the fittest, prohibit and forbid COVID-19 to manifest the theory of natural selection and succeed in making the people around us and everyone across the globe the fittest, stay indestructible in dusk and dawn and just wait for this violent storm to pass.

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Always smiling, always singing SPB – that is how people will remember the prodigious singer. Paadum Nila (Singing Moon), as he was called by his fans, had a golden voice that effortlessly captured varied human emotions and feelings. The way he weaved magic through his music is unmatched.

When S P Balasubramanyam won his first national award for the Telugu film “Shankarabharanam” (1979), he confessed that he had never learnt Carnatic music. What helped SPB to overcome those shortcomings to become a legend were his dedication and loads of talent to back his enchanting voice.

Born as Sripathi Panditaradhyula Balasubramaniam, in 1946, to Nellore-based Harikatha exponent Sambamurthy, SPB’s ambition was to become an engineer. His failure to clear a subject in his PUC forced him to pursue another course in Chennai. Yet, destiny had other plans in store for him. Music lured him towards singing competitions and finally to the film world.

Interestingly, his first big break happened in Telugu film Sri Sri Mariatha Ramanna in 1967. Although he got a hold in the Telugu film industry, getting an opportunity in Tamil cinema remained elusive until M S Viswanathan spotted him. However, his debut Tamil song in “Shanthi Nilayam” (an adaptation of Jane Eyre) in 1969 didn’t see the light of the day.

So, as luck would have it, SPB’s first song to be heard by Tamil listeners was for the MGR-Jayalalitha starrer, “Adima Penn”, a box office hit that was released in 1969. Till then MGR had refused to let anyone to sing song for him expect for T.M Soundararajan. The music composer of the film KV Mahadeven convinced MGR to hear SPB’s song “Ayiram Nilavey Vaa”. MGR was so mesmerised with the young SPB’s voice that he called the singer to his house to gift him a gold ring. Since then SPB has been the reigning playback singer in Tamil cinema.

When he won his second national award for “Ek Duje Ke Liye” (1981), he had made another confession that he didn’t know Hindi. However, it doesn’t stop him from being one of the sought after singers in Hindi cinema, probably the only South Indian singer who endured Bollywood for decades.

S P Balasubramnayam was literally the voice of almost every Salman Khan songs from the 90s, most popular being ‘Saathiya Tune Kya Kiya’, ‘Tumse Milne ki Tamannah Hai, ‘Kabhi Tu Chaliya Lagta Hai, ‘Pehla Pehla Pyar Hai and Mere Rang Mein Rangne Wali.

A great fan of Mohammed Rafi, SPB once said that the Hindi singer was his inspiration to sing romantic songs with such passion and involvement.

SPB could easily record half a dozen songs in a day, travelling between studios and singing for different composers and even languages. Hence, it is not a surprise that he holds the Guinness record for having the highest number of songs – more than 40,000 in 14 languages – Tamil, Telugu, Kannada,Malayalam, Hindi, Tulu, Oriya, Assamese, Punjabi – among them. Whatever the language, he would make sure to get the pronunciation right.

There was even an instance when he recorded 17 songs in Kannada for composer Upendra Kumar in Bangalore for 12 hours in 1981.

SPB sang over 2,000 songs for Ilayaraja alone. He and Ilayaraja had a small falling out after the music composer prevented him from singing on stage the songs composed by him, based on copyright claims. Later, the two patched up in a public event.

SPB always rooted for talented young singers. He encouraged another playback singer Mano, who had a similar voice and style. SPB spoke to Ilayaraja and gave an opportunity for Mano to sing for Rajinikanth. When SPB had to take a break after a surgery on his vocal chords he called top music directors and asked them to use Mano.

He enthusiastically sang for any new or upcoming music composer saying it gave him another opportunity to explore creativity and recognise talent. He looked at every opportunity with the excitement of a child.

When A.R Rahman first recorded him for Roja (1992), the bulky singer had to squeeze himself in a small glass cubicle to record his songs. Yet, he never complained about it and gave the evergreen melody ‘Kadhal Rojave’.

It was only a matter of time before SPB started composing music for films. He has scored music for 45 films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi. His talent didn’t see himself confined to singing and composing, he went on to act in several films too. “Acting came easily to me since a singer emotes in front of the microphone and innumerable stage shows meant that I had no stage or camera fear,” he said once.

For millions of fans across the world, S P Balasubramanyam’s evergreen voice that made them sing, dance, cry and introspect, will live on. He will always be the most loved singer ever.

The post S P Balasubramanyam: The singing moon appeared first on The Gulf Indians.

Think positive, experts say, for healthy mind and body especially during the times of COVID-19.

So let me think positive. First, corona is a gentleman’s disease. It is not hideous like small pox or deadly like plague. People of my generation who were stricken by smallpox still bear the pockmarks on their face. As for plague, people who had it were sure to die; so many died so quickly that there was no place to bury them and bodies were heaped in city roadsides in medieval Europe.

The death rate of corona is only three percent of the patients in India. The Prime Minister aims to reduce it to one percent. And it is not a difficult proposition. Majority of the Indians, particularly the rural population, have immense immunity. Those who grew up drinking the polluted water of Yamuna and Ganga cannot be easily overpowered by an epidemic.

Coronavirus kills more the pizza-eating and wine guzzling fat Italians than undernourished lean Indians. Yes, corona is socialist and secularist. It attacks the rich and poor alike. And it doesn’t differentiate on the basis of religion, caste, colour and gender. It is a true stickler to the Indian Constitution. And like cancer, it can’t be cured with your vast money as no cure is discovered yet. Most patients are not killed by corona but by other diseases the person has already been suffering from. Of course, the old becomes easy victim. But it is biologically correct. Why should one live simply to make a record?

Therefore, thinking positive is good for a healthy mind in a healthy body.

Be positive…Except while you are being tested for corona. Then hope and pray to be negative!

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